Method for mounting upholstering



May 29. 1928;

f I 1,671,452 E. STEIN 7 METHOD FOR MOUNTING UPHOLSTERING' Filed June 15, 1925 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. EDWARD 611m May 29, 1928.

l;671,452 E. .STEIN METHOD FOR MOUNTING U-PHOLSTERING I Filed June'l5, .1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllbkaiifkx INVENTOR. Boa/map (7mm Arrow.

Patented May 29, 1928.

,, UNITED STATES,

PATENT orries.

EDWARD STEIN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGIN'OR F ONE-HALF TO ALFRED ET- TINGER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

-ME'IHOD roe MO'UNTING UPI-IOLSTERING.

Application filed June 15, 1825. Serial No. 37,129. it

My invention relates to a method of mounting upholstering upon furniture of various kinds. Preliminarily to the placing .of the .upholstering on the furniture, such as the back or arm of the chain-or the like,

the outline of the arm or'back,as the case-Y may be, is built from suitable material, generally wood, to provide the frame upon which the springs used in the cushion are mounted. After the springs have been mounted upon the frame, the springs are generally tied together and a suitable covering of burlap placed about the springs and the formation of the piece upholstered and frequently this formation is quite lrregular, so that the upholsterer must exercise a certain amount of skill in stretching the covering cloth, so as to remove the wrinkles and make a perfectly smooth covering over the springs and backing. In addition to requiring considerable skill of the upholsterer, the operation is one which takes considerable time, and on account of the method of securing the covering cloth to the frame, it is practically impossible to produce two pieces of upholstered furniture which are identical. If the upholsterer is to upholster the back of a chair, the back is built integral with the rest of the chair and the upholstering done on the back, while forming a part. of th chair.

With my method of securing the upholstering to a frame, whether it be a back, an arm, or another part of the furniture, the piece upholstered may be made separate from the piece of furniture'with which it is to be used, so that, after it is upholstered, .50

ture, thus affording a detachableupholstered .back, or arm. v

It an object of the present iIlVcntion it may be mounted upon the piece of furni to provide a method ofmount-ing upholsterin -upon a' frame, which will reduce consi era-bly the labor necessary for mounting the upholstering on theframe and which will also permit of the forming of a number of pieces 'of upholstering, substantially identical, so that the upholstered pieces may be mounted upon pieces ,of furniture with which they are intended to be used, after 1 the 'upholstering is mounted, so that there isarrived at a system of'production in which theupholstering may be quickly and easilyproceeded with, without requiring'the upholsterer .to handle the large and bulky piece of furniture with which the upholstered portion is to be used.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of mounting upholstering on a frame which consists in placing the padding and covering cloth over a form, and

pressing the frame into the form, so as to retain thecoveringcloth in tightened position, to permit a quickand easy attachment of the covering cloth to the frame. Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood from a reference to the accompanying draw-' ings, which'form a part of this specification and in which I Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan View of the form used in the invention,

the frame inposition preliminarily'to being pressed into its final position,

Fig. 4 is a sectional View similar to Figs,

2 and 3, showing the frame pressed into final position,

Fig. 5 is asectlonal view of the frameready for positioning in the, form, v i

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sideelevational view, illustrating the clamping means used in the invention,

Fig. 7 is a' fragmentary sectional View taken on substantially line 77 of Fig. 6.

In the drawings, I have shown a device,

-providc the desired form.

adapted for carrying out my invention, but, as the description proceeds, it will be evident that various modifications of this form may be made, Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is my intention to embrace, within the scope of the claims attached hereto, such variations and modifications.

As shown in the drawings, there is provided a table, or supporting surface, 9, upon which is mounted a mold or form frame 10, having a form. 11 formed therein. The form 11 will, of course, correspond to the frame adapted to be used therewith so that, on different designs of furniture, different forms will be necessary. These forms may he formed in the frame 10, which may con- ,s ist simply of a block of wood, carved out to providethc.necessary cavity, or it may consist of some plastic material molded to Bolts 12 provided with wing nuts 13 serve to secure the frame to the table, or supporting surface 9. Formed in the faces of the frame 11 are grooves 14. Mounted upon the frame,

' at intervals, are brackets 15, in which is .end or tongue 18 into the groove 14.

mounted a. horizontally extending shaft 16, upon which is mounted a locking strip 17 having angularly turned ends 18, adapted to project into the groove 14, a spring 19 serving to normally press the angularly turnzd shown in Fig. 6, the strip one continuous piece extending the full width of the frame gaging membersor tongues 18 to force the covering fabric 24 into the grooves 14.

There'is'then placed by the upholsterer upon the covering fabric 24 a suitable layer 25 of cotton or other desirable packing. Upon this layer of cotton 24 is then placed-a suitable layer of padding such as .tow 26, the amount ofpadding being determined by the upholsterer. The frame 27, which determines the outline of the upholstered piece and to which the shape of the form. 11 corre- 1 sponds, is generally'made from wood, and has secured thereto" metallic strips 28 to which one endof the springs 29. is fastened. The

opposite ends of the springs 29 are joined together in any suitable manner and the frame is then covered witha layer of bur- The locking strip is then released lap. 80, so that the springs, while attached to the frame 27 are enclosed. With frames constructedin the manner described, there is generally provided, at one side, projecting portion 27, which forms the base of the frame, and serves-to .connect the lower ends of the upwardly projecting end pieces. This frame, with the springs enclosed in the manner indicated, is then placed uponthe packing, as shown in Fig. 3. A suitable ram .32, operated in any desirable manner, is then brought into engagement with the back of the frame 27 and serves to force the frame into the form 11 so as to stretch tautly the covering fabric 24. WVhen this is done, the edges of the fabric are released by the engaging menahers and these edges securely tacked to the frame, while the' ram 28 pressing the frame into'the form. The structure-of the macl'iinc operating the ram'is not described,

as the same forms no part of this invention, and may be any deslred conventionaltype of pressing machine.

WVhen the ram 28'presses the frame into the mold, the covering fabric 24 is stretched uniformly throughout its area, and ,is held in-this stretched condition, while the up:

holsterer is tacking its edges to the frame. It is thus seen that the operation of securing the upholstering-to the frame is one which may be quickly and easily done, with a considerable saving in time, and with uniform stretchlng of the covering cloth throughout its entire area.

The result is' also a more attractive product, more fiIllShGfl 1n its-appearance, and d splaylnga degree of careful workmanship. The projecting portion 27' serves to engage agalnst' the frame 10 at the portion'27'which is formed to lie in a single plane, vertical to the base, thus limiting the movement of the frame beyond a desired distance and preventing a v stretching of the covering sott'ightly as to compress the springs. This formation also serves to properlyseat the frame in the mold. I

' A saving of covering fabric-is also effected through this method, inasmuch as the fabric may be cut into pieces which are the desired size and shape, so that, when placed over the frame 10, the upholstercr may fold the edges over sufliciently to clear the grooves In this manner, the upholsterer will be able to produce a number 14 before a clamping.

of upholstered pieces, substantially the same, inasmuch as the stretching of the covering fabric 24 will be various pieces. I

What Iclaim is: p A device ofthe class described comprisi-ng, a mold bearing frame vhavingone of the end walls of greater height than the other; an upholstery bearing frame adapted for uniform in the pressing into said mold; a projection on one end of said upholstery hearing frame adapted for engaging the inner surface of the shorter of the end Walls of said mold bearing frame the opposite end of said upholstery bearing frame engaging the inner surface of the deeper of said side Walls of said mold hearingframe vand lying with its upper surface flush with the upper surface of said side Wall.

In testimony whereof, I have signed the foregoing specification.

EDWARD STEIN. 

